"Air taxis" are sold online, and "flying cars" take an important step

Manned aircraft known as "air taxis" have recently been put on sale online. Is the era of "flying cars" really coming?

On March 18, the EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft, the worlds first domestically produced and independently developed "air taxi" to obtain airworthiness certification, was launched on Taobao with a price tag of 2.39 million yuan. On the evening of March 20, this "air taxi" appeared in the Make Friends live broadcast room again, with the full purchase price of 1.99 million yuan.

In the live broadcast room, there are two purchase links for this "air taxi": one is to pay 1.99 million yuan directly, and the other is to pay an exclusive reservation deposit of 39,900 yuan. As of 19:35 on the evening of the 20th, 5 people had taken the link for the deposit of 39,900 yuan.

The successive launches on online shopping platforms have attracted greater attention to "air taxi". It is reported that the "air taxi" EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft was released by EHang Intelligent, a US-listed company. This unmanned manned aircraft can carry two people, is 6.05 meters long, 5.73 meters wide, and 1.93 meters high. It is composed of 16 propellers. It is a fully intelligent unmanned aircraft, capable of vertical takeoff and landing, and mainly flies in low-altitude airspace. Its maximum single flight mileage is 30 kilometers in a straight line in the air, and its maximum flight speed can reach 130 kilometers per hour. It can be used flexibly in multiple scenarios such as commuting and air ambulance.

It is understood that on December 21, 2023, the EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft obtained the standard airworthiness certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, becoming the first unmanned manned electric vertical takeoff and landing in the world to obtain an airworthiness certificate. (eVTOL) aircraft. At that time, Hu Huazhi, founder, chairman and CEO of EHang Intelligent, said: “With the introduction of multiple supporting policies for the low-altitude economy, one of the country’s strategic emerging industries, the unmanned aircraft industry has ushered in huge development opportunities. In the near future, we will produce more and more aircraft off the production line and gradually complete outstanding orders, thereby providing services to more customers and passengers and accelerating the development of urban air transportation."

Although it has been sold online, the "air taxi" currently cannot fly any route you want. The Taobao store page reminds that "air taxis" do not require a driver. The aircraft flies according to the route set in advance, achieving point-to-point flight in the air, avoiding road congestion, improving travel efficiency, and effectively avoiding safety accidents caused by human operating errors; During actual operation, its "takeoff and landing points and routes are jointly formulated by EHang Intelligent and the local civil aviation authorities to ensure reliable communication, that the route will not conflict with other flight routes, and that there are no fixed obstacles blocking the route." This also means that it is too early for the popularization of low-altitude flight among individual users.

From the current point of view, the areas where low-altitude flight may be activated first may be tourism, sightseeing, logistics and other scenarios. On December 28 last year, EHang Intelligent announced that the first batch of EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft that had completed airworthiness certification had completed their first commercial flight demonstrations in Guangzhou and Hefei, marking the success of EH216-S in local scenic spots. Regular air commercial flights will be carried out.